


the pointy ears potential

by sleepymoon



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Mpreg, Pregnant!Spock, Space Husbands, Surprise Pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-07 18:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5467148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepymoon/pseuds/sleepymoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The two men enter soon after, neither of them dressed in uniform. Kirk is wearing his usual regulation pants and a black t-shirt, while Spock is sporting an ample Vulcan tunic over what looks like a pair of stretchy sweatpants. They are holding hands, which, while not completely unheard of, is still sort of a novelty for the couple.</p>
<p>At the sight of them, Christine shoots up from the chair, gasping.</p>
<p>“Oh no, is this an emergency?” she cries, reaching for the intercom. “I'll alert Doctor McCoy immediately!”</p>
<p>“No, no, please,” Kirk hurriedly says, raising his free hand in a placating motion, halting her. “If you tell Bones about this, I'll never hear the end of it! Please, I promise, everything's fine!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	the pointy ears potential

**Author's Note:**

> There are many things that I like about the Star Trek reboots, and there are also many things I don't like.  
> Among the latter, the careless way Christine Chapel was written off the story.
> 
>  
> 
> Beta'd by [VeraBAdler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeraBAdler). (Thank you! ♡)

 

Working consecutive gamma shifts in Sickbay is not, on any given day, a relaxing experience. Christine Chapel knows that fairly well. That statement is proved to be even more accurate on days such as today, since a particularly nasty case of Andorian flu that has spread among a fifth of the operative officers has put a strain on everyone's nerves, and triplicated the workload of the medical staff aboard the USS Enterprise.

After checking over the few remaining patients that still occupy the biobeds in the main area of the infirmary, Christine retired to her desk, hoping to get some paperwork done despite the telltale signs of the start of a migraine pulsing at her temples. She is just about to dig into the numbers when the sound of soft, approaching footsteps make her pause.

She looks up, startled, when she recognizes the hushed voices of the Captain and First Officer.

The two men enter soon after, neither of them dressed in uniform. Kirk is wearing his usual regulation pants and a black t-shirt, while Spock is sporting an ample Vulcan tunic over what looks like a pair of stretchy sweatpants. They are holding hands, which, while not completely unheard of, is still sort of a novelty for the couple.

 

At the sight of them, Christine shoots up from the chair, gasping.

“Oh no, is this an emergency?” she cries, reaching for the intercom. “I'll alert Doctor McCoy immediately!”

“No, no, please,” Kirk hurriedly says, raising his free hand in a placating motion, halting her. “If you tell Bones about this, I'll never hear the end of it! Please, I promise, everything's fine!”

At his words she deflates, her mouth clicking shut. She frowns, confused. “Then... what is it? Did you have a scheduled appointment for today? There's no trace of it in the log...” she ventures, raising her eyebrows.

The two of them exchange a brief look and Kirk turns back towards her, flashing a sheepish grin.

She looks at Spock, who meets her gaze earnestly. His ears seem to be blushing a little though, despite his usual aloof countenance.

“See, the thing is...” starts Kirk, hesitating just a moment before continuing. “... We made a bet.”

“We did no such thing,” promptly counters Spock, resolutely shaking his head.

“Okay, well, maybe not exactly in those terms, but... Look, Christine. Spock here says that it's _improbable,_ or whatever, that the child will end up having his pointy ears, since they're gonna be three quarters human. _I_ say that they're gonna have them, 'cause Vulcan genes are the dominant ones. Also, pointy ears are _tha bomb_.” He makes a little explosion-like gesture with his hands, grinning in obvious excitement. “So, we kind of need you to... um, take a peek. At them. Uh, could you help us with that?”

Christine takes a good look at the pair, finally heaving a deep sigh and rolling her eyes.

“I can't believe you two,” she mutters under her breath, gesturing towards the nearest biobed.

Kirk flashes her another grin, and helps Spock up on the bed, despite the Vulcan's reassurances that he can do it just fine on his own.

“Thank you, Miss Chapel, for obliging to my mate's ridiculous requests,” Spock says.

“Hey!” Kirk exclaims, pretending to be outraged. “Don't act like this is all on me! You're curious too!”

Christine smiles lightly, busying herself with the medical tricorder's complicated settings, letting her thoughts run freely as she works.

She has been dating someone for the past four months and the relationship is going really great so far. Even back at the Academy days, when she used to carry quite the torch for her handsome yet unapproachable Vulcan professor, she knew that nothing would come of it. But she isn't that much of a hypocrite not to admit that the sight of them together can make her still feel a sort of bitter longing at the back of her throat.

Being assigned to the Enterprise had been an amazing opportunity to work with a superb crew of highly competent officers. She's very lucky, she loves her job and the people surrounding her. And when, three years later, the Captain and Mr. Spock had made their ongoing (and much gossiped-about) relationship public, she had been truly happy for them. With a devoted mate at his side and a child on the way, she couldn't but wish Spock all the best.

While it still does feel a little bittersweet sometimes, now it mostly feels like moving on, moving forward.

“Well... I could be wrong, but...” Christine tilts her head to the side, studying the screen carefully. She adjusts the focus of the machine, nodding to herself. “Yes, it's as I thought. From here it looks like they have human ears.”

Kirk visibly deflates, his shoulders drooping a bit. “Oh,” he says.

*****

 

After they leave, Christine returns to her desk, where she finds another unexpected but not unwelcome visitor waiting for her.

Carol Marcus is sitting on the edge of her desk, legs crossed, two plastic cups of coffee in her hands.

“I thought you might need a break,” she says, smiling when Christine leans in to give her a kiss.

“You're amazing,” Chapel sighs in bliss, taking a long sip from her cup.

“I think I just saw Jim and Spock coming out of here, is everything okay?” Carol asks, frowning.

“Yes, it's fine. They're _so_ cheesy, who would have thought,” Christine answers, hopping down in her chair with a laugh. “You'll never guess what they just asked me to do...”

*****

 

 

The following afternoon, taking advantage of one of the rare occasions when they are both off duty, Jim and Spock sit together in the middle of their shared bed. Jim, who's being uncharacteristically quiet, is giving Spock a back massage.

“Are you truly upset about yesterday?” Spock asks, an edge of uncertainty in his voice.

Jim sighs. “Look, sweetheart. You know all that really matters to me is that you and the baby are alright. That's all I care about. But, I mean, you also know how much I adore your ears...” he punctuates this with a playful bite on one of them. “... and I just thought it'd be pretty great if our child had them just like yours. Anyway, mine are cute too. I guess they'll do. Wait, they _are_ cute, aren't they?”

“They are,” Spock agrees amiably, letting out a small sigh of pleasure when Jim rubs harder against the sore spot on his neck. “I think it's perhaps worth mentioning that I had a brief – although quite illuminating – discussion with Selek this morning, after I finished my meditation and prenatal exercises. He brought something to my attention, a fact of which I was not previously aware. I dare say it might... brighten your mood, is that the saying?”

“Mmh, yeah? What did he say?” Jim mumbles distractedly, pressing a soft kiss on the top knob of his spine without stopping the massage.

“After I shared with him my concerns regarding your reaction, he mentioned that, due to their fragile cartilaginous nature, the ears of Vulcan infants may manifest in a peculiar manner. During the gestation period and the first weeks of their life, it is not unusual for these ears to... curl, so to speak.”

“What?!” Jim perks up at that, eyes twinkling in renewed excitement. “Are you serious? They _curl?”_

“It is a possibility, yes.”

“Are you saying I might still win the bet?”

Spock raises both his eyebrows in reproach. “There is no _bet,_ Jim.”

“Yeah, sure. But I might still win, then! Ha, that's amazing! Team pointy ears, still going strong!”

Spock sighs, letting himself fall backwards against Jim's body, squirming lightly before settling in comfortably. Jim sneaks his arms up and around his chest, intertwining his fingers around the bump.

“You are a highly illogical human,” Spock murmurs, closing his eyes, relaxing into him.

“And yet here you are, madly in love with me, having my baby...” Jim whispers in his ear, grinning.

Spock makes a noncommittal noise of annoyance, but doesn't say anything to dispute that last statement, and Kirk's grin gets even larger.

*****

 

 

When the little one is born, according to everyone and their mother, his ears are perfect: two little beveled points that unfurl and twitch when he sleeps.

Jim strolls around with him nestled in a baby carrier and lets him take long nap sessions on his chest during the slow hours of Beta shift. Sometimes he swivels in his Chair towards Spock and not-so-subtly points at one of the ears, with a smug smirk. Spock not-so-subtly rolls his eyes at his mate and keeps on working, the barest hint of a smile lingering on his lips.

 


End file.
